Should I brown meat for stew?

Browning ingredients (both meat and vegetables including the aromatics) before doing a braise or stew (which is what slow cookers do) helps develop depth of flavor, through the Maillard reaction where proteins and carbohydrates react together to create a myriad of flavorful compounds. Vegetables that are high in sugar, such as onions or leeks, and even carrots may also have some caramelization, where sugars react with each other, again creating flavorful compounds.

Especially with beef, these deep browned flavors are often what people associate with the product, and what they expect to taste.

On the other hand, browning almost by definition overcooks the outside of meat well past well done, so it is somewhat drier and tougher, although this can be mitigated by a long braise Some experts recommend browning only on one side of cubed meat, to compromise between getting flavor development, and getting good texture.

The one thing browning or searing doesn't do is "seal in the juices"; that is a myth that is well de-bunked.

The choice to brown or not brown is one of taste and balance. It is traditional in many recipes, especially of Western European heritage. There are many traditions where browning is not as frequent, including true Mexican cuisine and many Asian cuisines.

Choose what seems most appropriate and tasty to you in a given dish. Personally, I like the flavor development, and almost always opt for browning.

Browning meat helps increase the savory, satisfying taste called umami. Umami is the taste of free amino acids. Free means the aminos are not bound into a protein. Glutamate, the most common amino acid, is required for umami to be tasted. But when glutamate is combined with certain other free amino acids, the umami taste is increased at a multiplicative rate rather than additive. That is, a food with glutamate and another umami amino in equal portions has about 8 time as much umami as a food with just glutamate. Most meats are naturally low in unbound glutamate. It is trapped in the proteins. Browning (like aging) breaks down the proteins on the surface, unbinding the glutamate. And since meat is high in inosinate, an umami multiplier, a little goes a long way. Umami is a first class taste, alongside sweet, sour, salty and bitter. While it is the most subtle taste to the modern palate, its impact is perhaps the furthest reaching in the eating experience. It makes salty or sweet taste more salty or sweet, while reducing bitterness and sourness. It is long lasting, humming on the tongue when other tastes have long faded. Further, it physiologically triggers satiety, making the eater full and satisfied with less food.

On glutamate, umami, and browning: http://books.google.com/books?id=TPd2SaE3HW4C&pg=PA60&lpg=PA60&dq=browning+meat+glutamate&source=bl&ots=RuJMyJ7QBO&sig=-luhaivoktO0DYwPOLk8WA3KVOc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=NjozU_3BA9TNsAS15ICAAQ&ved=0CGoQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=browning%20meat%20glutamate&f=false

On amino acid levels in beef (see slide labeled "Meatiness"): http://www.hull.ac.uk/php/chsanb/Food/Food_3.pdf

On amino acids, palatability, and the multiplicative effects of combining: http://jn.nutrition.org/content/130/4/910.long

That last one is a little long and dry, but by far the most exhaustive.

Honestly, I had always done the things said to add flavor—browned the meat, used stock instead of water, wouldn’t think about omitting garlic. One day I was preparing beef short ribs, bone-in, and I worried about introducing too much hardness into the meat (I was preparing it for the slow cooker).

That day I was also short on time and energy, so prepared a blanc. For some reason I used water and no garlic. Voila! Tender, beefy ribs that tasted like my mother’s cooking! I was impressed!

Today I will be fixing Irish stew the same way. Think about it; fuel for cooking, time for washing pots; the huge proportion of home cooks worldwide could not AFFORD the cost of browning and stock was not available prepackaged. The traditional Irish cook was lucky to have enough peat to cook the stew, much less extra to brown it first! The penchant for browning comes directly from French haute cuisine—royalty could afford the fuel!

Now I could afford the cost of browning the meat, but can I spare the time for that meticulous preparation and the inevitable cleanup? I won’t say I’ll never brown again, but I am experimenting with the simplified prep and am happy with the increased tenderness of the meat (I buy almost exclusively pasture-raised meats, and toughness can be a concern. I’m also serene in realizing that, at least in this one regard, I am emulating the thrift and simplicity of my ancestors!

total nonsense, western tradition. Recipe after recipe said brown the meat for a tagine..all it did was dry it out. Even the mighty Oliver agrees, try it without browning. Just let you meat/balls absorb the spices and flavours of then tagine overnight and then slow cook them to Heaven. Oh forgot my wife is from Fez